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Abuja, Nigeria, August 31 (Infosplusgabon) – The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Saturday announced the completion of airlifting of relief materials to Mozambique and Zimbabwe to further assist victims of the massive flooding that affected some communities in those countries in April 2019.

NAF Spokesperson, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, said in a statement that the airlift missions, which were conducted for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), conveyed critical relief materials such as drugs, medical supplies and treated mosquito nets donated by the Federal Government of Nigeria to alleviate the sufferings of the flood victims.

Daramola noted that the airlift missions were executed by NAF C-130 Hercules aircraft, “in furtherance of the NAF’s constitutional roles of projecting air power beyond the shores of the country as well as providing Military Aid to Civil Authority.”

Daramola stated that the aircraft airlifted 12,000 kg of relief materials from Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, to Maputo International Airport in Mozambique on 26 August 2019, while 8,100 kg of materials were delivered at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, Harare, Zimbabwe 31 August 2019.

The NAF aircrew and NEMA officials handed over the items to officials from the Nigeria High Commission in the two countries for onward delivery to their host governments.

In May 2019, the NAF conducted the first airlift missions for NEMA using an ATR-42 aircraft, in 3 sorties, for a total of 15,000 kg of similar relief materials to Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

In addition, in August 2017, the NAF had similarly airlifted 38,000 kg of government-donated relief materials to Freetown, Sierra Leone, in the aftermath of the devastating mudslides and floods that ravaged the country.